I slept for twelve hours last night, but I think I’ve now recovered from my first full workweek at the new job, and the adventure that was Rhinebeck yesterday! Holly, Tania, and I drove up for the day on Saturday and got to pet a lot of yarn, almost get run over by a llama, say hi to a ton of old friends (some for the first time!), take in the fall foliage, and even sample some tasty noms.

Back when we went apple picking, we were disappointed that the scenery wasn’t suitably fall-like. The trees really delivered this weekend—on the drive up, the Taconic was ablaze! We left bright and early—around 8am, once we were on our way—and I just hoped we’d get to the fair in time for the Ravelry meetup. The drive should only take just over two hours, but I worried that all the yarnies would get in the way. We had no reason for concern, as we drove right up and into the lot at 10am with no wait at all. Interestingly, we’d heard a lot of talk about a “back entrance” to the fair but we missed the turn to get to it, so we shrugged and went to the regular entrance with no trouble at all. Perhaps everyone sought out the other entrance, leaving the main gate free!

I went to Rhinebeck with not much of a plan, other than to try to see friends and maybe buy a sweater’s worth of yarn. I wanted gray. Let me tell you, gray was cleaned OUT at most booths I went to. I ended up buying 5 skeins of Shepherd Wool in a bright, BRIGHT teal blue. Kind of the opposite of gray, I know. But I’m excited to seek out a pattern for it! I also got four skeins of sock yarn (two off that display above) for unknown uses, but it was too pretty to pass up.

The highlight, of course, was the socialization! The noon Ravelry meetup on the hill was jam-packed with familiar faces, and I was lucky to finally meet some friends I’ve known online for years but had never met, like Stacey (Earthchick) and Em (E to the M). But I also got to hang out with old friends—the list of awesome people is too long to name every one, plus I’ll forget someone and I don’t mean to exclude. Interestingly, I ran into Nova in theexact same booth that I ran into her in two years ago, and she told me I’d won a contest on her blog so she had the yarn for me (awesome!). I loved how I exited a building just as Diana was passing the entrance, and we stopped, threw open our arms, and cried “ahhh!!!” to see each other. But even though I probably talked to something like thirty people (sometimes forward progress was impossible, I was stopped every few steps!), there were still people there I wanted to say hi to but I didn’t even see, and I regret missing them! (Also did anyone spot Uma Thurman? I heard she was there.)

It was a nonstop, fantastic day, but I hit my wall in the late afternoon (soon after a boy leading a llama walked by and the llama decided my hair was VERY INTERESTING and worth seeing closer). I was happy to escape to the car for the drive home. Once home, I ate a quick bite of dinner, layed on the couch for an hour, and then was in bed at 9:45pm. Until next year, then! Kisses!

i love the new blog layout! that first photo of the trees is totally gorgeous. glad i got a chance to see you and finally meet you, even though the meetup was so crazy and we didn’t get a chance to chat!

That looks awesome!
Actually, I spotted Uma – she was standing right next to me. I didn’t say anything though, thought she might enjoy people not walking up to her talking about movies… but it was really nice, she is beautiful! And it totally made my day: being on vacation in the USA (I’m from Germany), being in Rhinebeck on this fiber festival and seeing one of my favorite actresses…perfect!